Mattress Firm gets boost from acquisitions in 1Q

HOUSTON (AP) -- Mattress Firm Holding Corp.'s shares jumped in after-hours trading Tuesday after it reported a surge in sales and profit for its fiscal first quarter and forecast better-than-expected full-year revenue.

The Houston-based mattress retailer earned $12 million, or 35 cents per share, for the quarter that ended April 30. That's compared to $9.7 million, or 29 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. After adjusting for acquisition costs and other special items, it earned 38 cents per share versus 31 cents per share last year.

The quarter exceeded market expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting the company to earn 36 cents per share on revenue of $274.4 million.

Mattress Firm has been on an acquisition tear that has helped its total revenue. It bought 181 Mattress Giant stores in May of 2012. A few months later, it acquired 34 mattress stores from Mattress Xpress Inc. and another 27 stores from Factory Mattress & Water Bed Outlet of Charlotte at the end of the year.

The company said that its revenue from stores open at least a year fell 5.2 percent. This is considered a key indicator of a retailer's financial health as it strips away the impact of recently opened or closed sites. The company had 1,096 stores as of the end of the quarter.

Mattress Firm said it expects this measure will grow in the low single-digit range for its fiscal year ending in January.

It also said that it expects to earn $1.81 to $1.89 per share for the year on revenue of $1.24 billion to $1.25 billion. Adjusted earnings per share are pegged at $1.90 to $1.98. Analysts were anticipating earnings of $1.95 per share on revenue of $1.23 billion.

Shares of the company jumped more than 6 percent in after-hours trading to $40. The stock added $1.01 to close regular trading at $37.56 Tuesday.